This time of year, football is considered more important than... well... everything. Nathan makes an olympic sport of watching as many games as humanly possible. All I care about is watching my beloved Wildcats. It's been a rough several years for Wildcat fans. I consider myself very lucky to have attended K-State during the reign of Michael Bishop. That kid might have been dumb as a box of rocks, but he could get a pigskin to go where it needed to go. Those were amazing times, thanks to the almighty Bill Snyder. The last several years have brought out the true fans - those of us who are willing to weather the storms and still pull on the purple sweatshirts and go out in public. I'll always be proud of my Cats. I never missed a home game. K-State football is special to me, probably mostly because it's so special to my dad. A K-State grad himself, he takes Wildcat football seriously. One of his favorite life accomplishments was getting to be one of K-State's football team's main pilots with TWA. You couldn't find a happier guy, schmoozing with Snyder and his team. He has always bled purple, through thick and thin.
That said, yesterday was a huge day at our house: the meeting of K-State and Texas. Nathan and most of his buddies are crazy Texas fans. I was the lone purple-shirt wearer (but I did apply powercat tatoos on the kids' cheeks - Nate was steaming when he discovered them!), and I was nervous amid a large group of excited Texas fans. Oh, but how proud I was by game's end. For the second year in a row, my Cats upset the Longhorns. And this was a really GOOD showing of some serious talent from a young team coming together. Last year, we got lucky when Texas QB Colt McCoy got injured during one of the first plays of the game. But this year, the Cats had it together. As my dad said after the game, they simply worked harder and wanted it more.
I beamed with pride (although quietly) as I watched the fans in purple like little specks of sand on a beach of burnt orange. It made me realize how fortunate I am to be a graduate of a Big-12 school. I can only hope Evan and Owen can experience that someday. Who knows, maybe they'll be Wildcats. Maybe they'll be football stars and make their Grandpa Johnson the happiest man alive.
Go Cats!
That said, yesterday was a huge day at our house: the meeting of K-State and Texas. Nathan and most of his buddies are crazy Texas fans. I was the lone purple-shirt wearer (but I did apply powercat tatoos on the kids' cheeks - Nate was steaming when he discovered them!), and I was nervous amid a large group of excited Texas fans. Oh, but how proud I was by game's end. For the second year in a row, my Cats upset the Longhorns. And this was a really GOOD showing of some serious talent from a young team coming together. Last year, we got lucky when Texas QB Colt McCoy got injured during one of the first plays of the game. But this year, the Cats had it together. As my dad said after the game, they simply worked harder and wanted it more.
I beamed with pride (although quietly) as I watched the fans in purple like little specks of sand on a beach of burnt orange. It made me realize how fortunate I am to be a graduate of a Big-12 school. I can only hope Evan and Owen can experience that someday. Who knows, maybe they'll be Wildcats. Maybe they'll be football stars and make their Grandpa Johnson the happiest man alive.
Go Cats!
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